瑜伽師地論 思所成地 · 體義伽他 · 第十三段「得義」

Section thirteen of the Body-Meaning Verses · three verses (occasioned by the heavenly maiden's question · one-and-a-half verses of question, one-and-a-half of answer). The heavenly maiden asks the solitary-dwelling monk, "Why do you not consort with others?"

In one line: The "What Is Attained" section vindicates dwelling alone — it is not being solitary-and-aloof with some design, but to have already "attained the matter" (the matter of the śramaṇa-fruit, transcending birth-and-death · subduing the demon-army of fine form / the matter of the noble supernormal powers, realizing the eight liberations · dwelling at ease in the present state), the heart at peace, dwelling alone and receiving excellent ease; the difference between true peace and false lies in "whether or not one sees the four truths," and only one who has realized the absorption of the eight liberations and departed from the relish of craving is the inward peace of the ultimate truth.

Three Points of the Eye

1. Two kinds of attaining the matter: ① the matter of the śramaṇa-fruit (transcending the great suffering of birth-and-death · crushing the demon-army of fine form) ② the matter of the noble supernormal powers (realizing the eight liberations · reflecting in stillness · dwelling at ease in the present state · dwelling alone and receiving excellent ease). This verse's intent sets forth the matter of the noble supernormal powers — cultivating by the ten totalities, the concentration on the totalities becomes pure, liberation becomes pure, the noble supernormal powers are accomplished → "my matter is accomplished," the matter of the śramaṇa-fruit is brought to fulfillment, a true śramaṇa.
2. Knowing the four truths = disgust-and-censure toward the towns and their society: toward the towns and their society one knows the origin (the cause and condition giving rise to desire = arising) · the danger (impermanent, manifold suffering, changing and decaying = suffering) · the escape (the subduing of desire-and-greed = cessation) · the practice that tends toward escape (the noble eightfold path = the path). The ancient masters: the origin = arising · the latter three = suffering, cessation, path — the knowledge of the four truths, in due order.
3. True and false inward peace: the one who does not see the four truths circulates among the towns yet fancies himself at peace · and turns about to slander the one who has realized the absorption of the eight liberations → he is not capable of seeing well, knowing well, examining well, penetrating well (false). Enjoying the joy of desire / delighting in mixed abiding is not the inward peace of the ultimate truth; realizing the absorption of the eight liberations and departing from the relish of craving = the inward peace of the ultimate truth (true).

Appended · Pointers

The eight liberations · the ten totalities → the Stage of Meditative Equipoise (Stage 06); the knowing of the four truths → section nine (11-03-09) · the Intent-Meaning Verses (11-02). For the opening-out of the meaning, see the exposition.

The Verses (in today's language · three verses)

〔The heavenly maiden asks:〕"〔You〕have come alone to the forest hermitage 〔a place of quiet〕, sat in meditative absorption, and cast away precious wealth — is it that you seek something else? Or is it that you are spying out a fiefdom 〔scheming for rank〕? Why do you not consort with others, keeping no companions at all?" 〔He answers:〕"〔I〕have attained the matter and my heart is at peace; I have crushed the demon-army of alluring fine form. I dwell alone and reflect, and there receive the most excellent ease — and so I do not consort with others, and keep no companions at all."

Prose Explanation (in today's language)

This is a verse occasioned by the heavenly maiden's question. What is called "attaining the matter" is, in brief, of two kinds: first, the attaining of the matter of the śramaṇa-fruit; second, the attaining of the matter of the noble supernormal powers. By the first kind of "attaining the matter," one transcends all the great suffering of birth-and-death; by the second kind of "attaining the matter," one realizes the eight liberations, reflects in stillness, and dwells at ease in the present state. Again: the first attaining of the matter is able to subdue the "demon-army" of lovely, alluring form; the second attaining of the matter is able to dwell alone and reflect, and there receive excellent ease. The intent of 〔the verse〕 here is to set forth the "matter of the noble supernormal powers."

Why so? Suppose there is a certain person who, in order to accomplish the "matter of the noble supernormal powers," in order to make his liberation pure and complete, cultivates by the skillful means of the "ten totalities"; and by this cause and condition he makes the concentration on the totalities pure and complete, likewise makes his liberation turn to become pure, complete, and bright-and-clear, and is likewise able to accomplish the matter of the noble supernormal powers. Once he knows that this is accomplished, he then himself penetrates: "my matter is accomplished" — and the matter of the śramaṇa-fruit is likewise brought to fulfillment. He is a true śramaṇa.

Toward "those who seek wealth" 〔he〕 deeply cultivates disgust-and-censure; toward the various towns, their comings-and-goings, and the like, he is able to know their "origin," to know their "danger," to know their "escape," and also to know the "practice that tends toward escape": the cause and condition that gives rise to those 〔desires〕 is called the "origin" 〔that is, the arising〕; that they are impermanent, manifold suffering, of a nature to change and decay is called the "danger" 〔that is, suffering〕; the subduing, cutting off, and transcending of desire-and-greed is called the "escape" 〔that is, cessation〕; the noble eightfold path is called the "practice that tends toward escape" 〔that is, the path〕. If there is one who, toward those 〔places〕, does not see their "origin," on down to not seeing the "practice that tends toward escape," then by that cause and condition he is unable to feel disgust-and-censure toward places such as "beings possessed of precious wealth," but circulates among them without cease, and yet fancies of himself that "his 〔own〕 heart has attained peace"; while toward the inward peace of the one gone forth, who has realized the eight liberations and the absorptions of meditative stillness, he instead gives rise to slander. By this he becomes, toward "inward peace," incapable of seeing it well, knowing it well, examining it well, and penetrating it well. But if the "inward peace of the ultimate truth" runs contrary to this, then he is able to see it well, on down to penetrate it well.

The Condensed Sense (in today's language)

Next, briefly setting forth the sense stated above: the Blessed One here briefly indicates — those who "enjoy desires" and those who "delight in mixed abiding" are not the inward peace of the ultimate truth; only if one has realized the absorption of the eight liberations and departed from all the relish of craving is one named "the inward peace of the ultimate truth." Know that this is the condensed sense here.

Section thirteen is three verses, and again the heavenly maiden poses the question. The hard points are all handled with the treatise's own words.

First, One Question: A Person Who Dwells Alone in the Forested Hills and Makes No Friends — Is He Not Too Solitary-and-Aloof, With Some Design of His Own?

The heavenly maiden's doubt is very worldly, and very pointed: You have come alone to the forest hermitage, sat still, and even cast away precious wealth — is it that you seek something else? Or is it that you wish to spy out a fiefdom, to scheme for some rank? How is it you make not a single friend? — This is to read "keeping apart and dwelling alone" as "solitary-and-aloof," as "scheming."

The Buddha's answer is but one line, yet it lays the whole attainment bare: "得義、心寂靜，摧妙色魔軍；我獨處思惟，受最勝安樂，故不與人交。" tr. "I have attained the matter and my heart is at peace; I have crushed the demon-army of alluring fine form. I dwell alone and reflect, and there receive the most excellent ease — and so I do not consort with others." It is not solitary-and-aloof: it is to have already "attained the matter," the heart already at peace, so that dwelling alone one receives, on the contrary, the most excellent ease — however good a friend may be, none can match this joy of inward realization.

What Is It That "Attaining the Matter" Attains? — Two Kinds of Matter

The treatise takes "attaining the matter" apart into two kinds, each of great weight:

• The matter of the śramaṇa-fruit: one has realized the śramaṇa-fruit, and "transcends all the great suffering of birth-and-death," "subdues the demon-army of lovely, alluring form" — here there is a crisp simile, which names the seduction of the desire-objects the "demon-army of fine form": once the śramaṇa-fruit is attained, this army is crushed;
• The matter of the noble supernormal powers: one realizes the eight liberations, reflects in stillness, dwells at ease in the present state, and dwelling alone receives excellent ease.

The intent of this section's verse, the treatise says, "is to set forth the matter of the noble supernormal powers" — and the road to accomplishing the noble supernormal powers is to "cultivate by the skillful means of the ten totalities": one cultivates the concentration on the totalities to purity and completeness, one's liberation too turns to become pure and bright-and-clear, and only then are the noble supernormal powers accomplished. The one who accomplishes them will himself know that "my matter is accomplished," and the matter of the śramaṇa-fruit is likewise brought to fulfillment — he is a "true śramaṇa." The pure joy of dwelling alone comes about just in this way.

True Peace Against False Peace: The Difference Lies in "Whether or Not One Sees the Four Truths"

The deepest stroke of this section is the discernment of "true peace against false peace." The treatise says: the one who has attained the matter deeply cultivates disgust-and-censure toward "those who seek wealth," and sees the towns and their comings-and-goings through and through — he "knows the origin, the danger, the escape, and the practice that tends toward escape," and the ancient masters point out that this is precisely the four truths: the "origin" is arising (the cause and condition that gives rise to desire), the "danger" is suffering (impermanent, manifold suffering, changing and decaying), the "escape" is cessation (the subduing of desire-and-greed), and the "practice that tends toward escape" is the path (the noble eightfold path).

Conversely, the one who does not see the four truths (who does not see their origin, on down to not seeing the practice that tends toward escape) is unable to feel disgust-and-censure toward wealth and society, circulates among them, and yet fancies of himself that "my heart has attained peace"; worse still, he even turns about and slanders the "inward peace" of the one who has truly realized the absorption of the eight liberations. The treatise's verdict is very clear: such a person "is not capable of seeing it well, knowing it well, examining it well, penetrating it well" — because he simply has not seen the four truths, his "peace" is false. The condensed sense cuts this cleanly: those who enjoy the joy of desire, and those who delight in mixed abiding, are none of them the inward peace of the ultimate truth; only one who has realized the absorption of the eight liberations and departed from all the relish of craving is the inward peace of the ultimate truth.

The Intent of This Section

The "What Is Attained" section vindicates "dwelling alone": it is not being solitary-and-aloof with some design, but to have already attained the matter (the matter of the śramaṇa-fruit, transcending birth-and-death, subduing the demon-army of fine form / the matter of the noble supernormal powers, realizing the eight liberations), the heart at peace, dwelling alone and receiving excellent ease; and then, by "whether or not one sees the four truths," it discerns true peace from false — only one who has realized the absorption of the eight liberations and departed from the relish of craving is the inward peace of the ultimate truth. The joy of dwelling alone is the joy that comes after the demon-army has been subdued and the four truths have been seen — this is the section's most affirmative answer to "keeping apart from the crowd."

Carrying Forward

The eight liberations · the ten totalities · dwelling at ease in the present state → the Stage of Meditative Equipoise (Stage 06); knowing the origin / danger / escape / practice-that-tends = the four truths → the four-truths direct realization of section nine (11-03-09) · the four aspects each of the four truths in the Intent-Meaning Verses (11-02); the inward peace of the ultimate truth → the teaching of the equal holding of concentration and wisdom in the later treatises.